More Summer Fun At McCarren Pool

Hipsters and local Brooklynites overcame the heat and flooded McCarren Pool, for another of JellyNYC’s weekly Pool Parties. This Sunday’s party featured fiery performances by Birds of Avalon, The Thermals, and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists with The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn participating as house dj. Birds of Avalon set the mood early cutting through track after track of garage rock fury, only to succumb to the summer fun when the band stopped and began throwing toy birds into the sky. Later, singer Craig Tilley brought back the fury when he smashed his tambourine to pieces. The Thermals followed with their own brand of intense indie punk, finishing their set with a tasty rendition of Built To Spill’s “Big Dipper.”

Ted Leo, a summer concert regular, put on another impressive performance as headliner of yesterday’s show. New Jersey’s Ted Leo and the Pharmacists play New York at least once every summer, usually at the final South Street Seaport show of the summer. Surprisingly, this year they’re not listed to play that show, but they made up for it by playing at McCarren Pool. The last date on their tour with Birds of Avalon also acted as a celebration for the band, with bearded-bassist Dave Lerner playing with the band for the last time. The champagne bottle popped and sprayed the audience who was already soaked with sweat from a long day of summer heat and rock & roll. And Ted sure mad his fans sweat with a load of his best and catchiest songs which all started with the fantastic “Sons of Cain.”

On a sad note, next week’s Jelly NYC Pool Party will be your last chance this summer to smack someone in the chest with a dodgeball, get soaked on the slip‘ n’ slide, and catch some quality tunes at no cost. So, get yourself over there on Sunday afternoon and catch the well-hyped Ghostland Observatory.